AUSTIN, Texas — The health-oriented grocery chain Whole Foods has filed a countersuit for defamation against a homosexual “pastor” who claims that a cake he ordered at his Texas store had a slur written on it.

Jordan Brown of the Church of Open Doors had filed a legal challenge against Whole Foods on Monday, claiming that he ordered a cake last week for one of his congregational members that was to bear the words “Love Wins,” but later noticed that it read “Love Wins “F*g.”

He said that he did not notice the slur until later as he was driving home. Brown states that he didn’t want to make a scene at the store, so instead of returning with the cake, he called Whole Foods’ corporate office as well as the store manager to complain.

However, after local representatives conducted an investigation, they concluded that no wrongdoing had been committed.

“The team member wrote ‘Love Wins’ at the top of the cake as requested by the guest and that’s exactly how the cake was packaged and sold at the store,” the company said in a statement. “Our team members do not accept or design bakery orders that include language or images that are offensive.”

It said that the person who wrote on the cake even identifies as homosexual, and that other workers testified that the employee did not write a slur on the cake.

“We stand behind our bakery team member, who is part of the LGBTQ community, and the additional team members from the store, who confirmed the cake was decorated with only the message ‘Love Wins,'” Whole Foods stated.

Brown had Tweeted an image of the cake bearing the slur that same day, recorded a video to show others the “sealed” box, and also appeared at a press conference where he declared the alleged incident an act of hate.

“Pastor Brown never asked for this to happen. He continues to be overwhelmed by the feelings of pain, anguish and humiliation because of this incident,” his attorney, Austin Kaplan, said in a statement.

Brown has sued Whole Foods for damages involving emotional distress.

But Whole Foods says that it reviewed the video surveillance and has trouble believing Brown as the footage shows a UPC sticker on top of the cake box, while the video Brown released shows the sticker on the side.

“After a deeper investigation of Mr. Brown’s claim, we believe his accusations are fraudulent and we intend to take legal action against both Mr. Brown and his attorney,” it said in a statement. “Mr. Brown admits that he was in possession and control of the cake until he posted his video, which showed the UPC label on the bottom and side of the box.”

“After reviewing their security footage of Mr. Brown, it’s clear that the UPC label was in fact on top of the cake box, not on the side of the package,” Whole Foods outlined. “This is evident as the cashier scans the UPC code on top of the box, which you can view [in the surveillance footage].”

The company has publicly released the footage of Brown paying for the cake.

Some who have viewed Brown’s Tweeted photo also note that the frosting used to write “Love Wins” is much thicker than the slur on the cake, and so they could not have been written at the same time.

“That handwriting is different and the thickness of the frosting is inconsistent,” follower Elinor Wolfa wrote. “This is the work of an amateur.”

Brown contends that he didn’t tamper with the sticker.

“At this time we are aware of the Whole Foods’ press release, the alleged security video, and the countersuit by Whole Foods against Pastor Brown, and we are currently investigating these allegations,” Kaplan said on Tuesday.

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ComeOnPeople!

Well why not!! There is money to be had if you are a homosexual. All must tread lightly and handle anyone we disagree with with kid cloves… OR ELSE! But hey if this is found to be written by someone other then Whole Foods nothing will be done. Because in this new society only the LGBTQ win. Oh and by the way the acronym seems to be getting longer. LGBT has now added Queer but may be adding F for the new LGBTQ bakery called Fakery soon.

Michael C

But hey if this is found to be written by someone other then Whole Foods nothing will be done.

Did you read the article? Did you read the headline? Wholefoods is suing this Jordan Brown for a ton of money (as they should).

ComeOnPeople!

Whole Foods will loose because the courts are one sided. Do they have a case. YES. My point (though not well expressed) is that the courts are biased because they must prove their unjust laws are just . They have created sue happy LGBT people. All one must do to be sued is open their mouth and speak known truths , state reality or refuse to use their artist gifts for every whim of man. This FAKERY is a bi-product of what they courts have created.

Michael C

All one must do to be sued is open their mouth and speak known truths,…

example?

…state reality…

example?

..or refuse to use their artist gifts for every whim of man.

I think you mean refuse publicly offered products and services simply because a customer is gay.

Denying gay people employment, housing, and public accommodations is actually legal in most of the United States.

Some states prohibit businesses from discriminating against gay people.

Do you think a baker can “refuse to use their artist gifts” if an interfaith couple wanted to buy a cake?

ComeOnPeople!

Gay people have been around forever and are employed, own houses and buy and sell just like everyone else. But to demand that a person who creates cakes, prints logos or preaches a faith must participate in whatever a person says is silly. A satanist could sue if a Christian artist would not print “satan is god” for them. An atheist could sue if a Christian artist will not put god is dead on an item. Where then is the Christian artists right to expression. The Christians freedom of speech. OK example of speaking known truth… Homosexuality isn’t natural. The backside of a person was never meant for sex via known anatomy and medical journals. The backside of a person is an outlet. The vagina has one place that lets out urine and one place for a penis to enter. The penis itself has a different tube for urination and another for sperm. Yet the backside only has one opening used to eliminate the body of sewage. Therefore it is unnatural for a man to have relationship with a man but natural to do so with a woman. But to speak that known truth is now hate speech . Reality? Two men will never be able to produce offspring. That is reality even if you try to change it by saying yeah but but but… People can choose a lifestyle of whatever they wish but truths and reality will remain. I could give you many many examples of known truths and reality but right know the known truth is I have a lot to do and reality is , it’s not getting done. I agree to disagree with you that everything goes in society.

Michael C

But to demand that a person who creates cakes, prints logos or preaches a faith must participate in whatever a person says is silly.

No business was invited to participate in anyone’s wedding. A customer went into a store and asked to purchase a product that the store sells.

I don’t know why you’re lumping preachers into this discussion. Preachers aren’t subject to nondiscrimination laws. Pastors and churches are free to discriminate against whomever they please.

A satanist could sue if a Christian artist would not print “satan is god” for them.

The satanist would lose the lawsuit.

An atheist could sue if a Christian artist will not put god is dead on an item.

The atheist would lose the lawsuit.

Catherine Neill

Yes, I think any private business can refuse service to anyone, at any time, for any reason – it is called Capitalism and the Free Market. The Constitution applies to the Government, not private citizens. The bakery did business with that couple many times previously, but refused to participate in their ‘wedding’. They could have simply gone to another bakery, but they decided to push the LBGTQ agenda that is destroying this country.

Michael C

Yes, I think any private business can refuse service to anyone, at any time, for any reason

No, they can’t. We’re not talking about how you think things should be, we’re talking about how things are. It is fact that, in the United States, businesses aren’t permitted to refuse service to whomever they please for whatever reason. This is how it has been for over fifty years.

…but refused to participate in their ‘wedding’.

These businesses were not invited to “participate” in anything. The customers requested products that the businesses regularly offered to the general public. The customers did not request anything different than what the business readily sells to other customers.

A bakery would not be permitted to refuse to sell a cake to an interfaith couple simply because they didn’t want to “participate” in an interfaith wedding. A bakery would not be permitted to refuse to sell a cake to an interracial couple simply because they didn’t want to “participate” in an interracial wedding and, in some states, a bakery would not be permitted to refuse to sell a cake to a gay couple simply because they didn’t want to “participate” in a gay wedding.

Guest

OK, get a box with one of those printed out stickers on it like you get when picking up things from modern bakeries. They don’t peel off without damaging the box and the box photographed isn’t damaged.

I have to admit I’m having a hard time seeing the sticker on top the box in the surveillance video and where would the pastor get the exact same color frosting to have altered it himself?

I think its clear someone other than the actual cake decorator added the words but someone in house at Whole Foods still seems the most likely just from access to the exact shade of icing used.

chiefkurtz

As many have already pointed out, the colour appears inconsistent, as well as the thickness, as if someone used a similar colour to overwrite what was written in the store, while adding the offending word. And those labels can come off without damaging either, if not by hand, then by applying heat from a hair dryer. Regardless of whether the label was removed or not, the opening was unobscured, and it would have been plainly visible at the time of purchase.

Guest

Ok, that comes off as word salad. There was nothing overwritten, the only writing that was commissioned was the ‘Love Wins’ at the top. And in all the pictures I’ve seen the color of the icing of this layer is identical. The top, professionally done lettering is two layered but the top layer of of it and the added word are identical.

And I just went through the video in the highest resolution – when he turns to put the cake box on the counter the top is clearly visible – there was no sticker on any part of the clear window and there isn’t room enough on the box for the sticker to be there and NOT be on the window.

I’ll have to leave this one to those with physical possession of the items because with the low res things on the net, I can’t confirm or deny any of it and I’d rather say ‘I don’t know’ than gossip or bear false witness.

chiefkurtz

Take a pencil write the words ‘Love Wins’ on a piece of paper. Then, take a magic marker and write over the words ‘Love Wins’ with it, then below write ‘Fag’, then you’ll understand what I’m saying. And you’re wrong about there not being enough room on the box w/o obscuring the window. My grocery store has all its baked goods in boxes like that with the top part of the sticker on top, and the rest on the side, to allow it to scan easier, and none of them cover the window.

Guest

Ah, you are saying the two color wasn’t the original color at all. Maybe. My first reaction though would be how would a coverer be so clearly steady on the original letters and obviously shaky on the expletive? Anyone who has used the frosting pens knows it is very difficult to use a ‘home use’ product like that to get an even line at all as the color on the top is and even the shaky letters are. I could see getting it with a pastry bag but the little plastic tubes? And why is Whole Foods saying the label was on the top when their own video doesn’t show that?

Again, full rez pictures of the cake and the original videos would help me make a decision but I don’t have enough information to solve this mystery but local people do.

Guest

So you are saying part of the sticker is on the top of box, not ‘the sticker’. Now at my grocery the stick the sticker so it seals the box, front, with part wrapped around the bottom. And the picture that whole foods puts out doesn’t show the sticker at all, the bright light is the reflection of the store ceiling lights, you can see two incidences if you continue the video as the pastor walks away with the cake roll across the glassine window.

Again, an examination of the cake itself should show if it was indeed a ‘copy over’ of the original writing.

But again, accusations of fraud or lying are a spiritual risk I’m not willing to take at this time since I don’t have access to anything I would consider ‘good evidence’. Both sides of the story seem suspect though I will admit that instant calling of a lawyer is odd to me.

Either way, it should be resolved quickly by those much closer to the case than myself.

LadyFreeBird♥BlessedBeTheLord

Hair drier and or steam will remove label without damage to the label. I’ve used both in the past.

ComeOnPeople!

Most Bakeries will give you the icing so you can put the persons name on or add your own touches. Have no clue if thats the case but Teal icing is not hard to find.

Guest

Yeah but Teal is a hard color to match and if they had given him his own frosting you’d see it in the security video AND have someone saying they had done that. The idea that the original was covered with the new message frosting is a possibility, but why steady hands for the covering and not for the second?

I guess the local question is- did they use teal at all?

ComeOnPeople!

First off all the message said was Love lives. Everyone in the bakery would have had to of known it was for someone that was gay , which is highly unlikely . And say only one or just a few knew it was for a gay person it’s also highly unlikely someone out of a few would risk their job to put a message on a cake that was different then the one ordered. Not to mention that most Christian artists that practice their craft are not against the Gay people but against marriage of the same. This is not a wedding cake , so what is the point of putting a harsh word against gay people. I don’t know the truth but someone does. All I know is I smell fish!

Guest

Well actually it is very likely that people knew this was a ‘gay cake’ since he had been there many times before and people talk about the cakes while they are making them in retail grocery stores, gossip central. And my guess would be the cake was altered by a third party, we just don’t know where or who that third party is at the moment.

And the idea of not being against a person, just the completely legal things they do in accordance with their own beliefs is a whole different issue.

ComeOnPeople!

Also do you see the large see threw window on the cake box? Guess what that is for… That is so that when you pick your cake up, you can view the cake and make sure everything was done properly. That way if say a name was spelled wrong or the message got mixed up , the customer can say “hey this is wrong ” and then have it fixed, as to not ruin the special occasion. I’m in awe that this person didn’t check the item before leaving the store. I for one would not buy a special occasion cake without making sure it was right. Like I said something smells of fish.

Guest

And since we have all known people who miss the obvious on first glance that is ‘suspicious’ not conclusive.
Again, this should be easy to solve. Unless he turned them off all cellphones put time and gps on the photos they take – I would want to know the time gap between the pickup and the first photographed discovery.

And its because I don’t have that kind of information trying to reach a conclusion would be prideful and silly on my part. I can still see both sides in contention for one ending up being true.

Cecile Charles

Faked.

Gott Mit Uns!

If it is a hoax, it’s just more proof that Christians, especially Christian pastors, cannot be trusted.

Josey

he is not a Christian pastor but is homosexual, can’t be both.

Gott Mit Uns!

Don’t be ridiculous.

Catherine Neill

Romans 1:26-27

Gott Mit Uns!

Matthew 19:12

Charles

Terrible reference. Eunuchs don’t have a thing to do with Homosexuality.

Peter Leh

anyone can call themselves pastor.

maybe not yours or mine…

Josey

yeah, I get that, I was making the distinction.

Peter Leh

lol. he is a black, gay, christian, american, texas, austonian.. take your pick on what can ‘t be trusted

Josey

this guy could clearly see what was written on the cake before leaving the store, if he had an issue he should have stated right then and there. Claims he didn’t want to make an issue of it at store so he clearly say what was written which was probably just “Love Wins” and then he took it home and added the other because he sure is making an issue out of it now, so much for the love winning part on his part….what a joke!

Chrissy Vee

Agreed! And if he really “didn’t see it until he was driving” (o_O) … any person in their right mind would immediately turn their car around. ‘Didn’t want to make it an issue at the store’ isn’t consistent with the way he re-ACTED after.
There is another story now about gay wedding invitations… same bull, trauma, angst…different setting. I heard it on the radio this afternoon. I guess they have to sabotage themselves because no one else truly is. Good grief!

Liz Litts

About time they got a taste of their own medicine! It was faked —there are cases of ‘hate crimes’ turning out to be fake everyday.

Peter Leh

What a miscalculation.

A gay man in a gay city goes to a gay food chain gets a cake from a gay baker…. and we are suppose to believe his story?

bowie1

A “pastor” playing dirty with a frame-up job?

LadyFreeBird♥BlessedBeTheLord

If he was framing them it is very sad.

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